The Aberdeen City Council has unanimously approved significant increases in water, sewer and stormwater rates starting in 2020.
The vote at Wednesday’s council meeting was 11-0, with Ward 6 Councilman Frank Gordon absent.
Current sewer rates of $38.62 per month will rise to about $46 in 2020. Rates would climb over the next several years, rising to $72 in 2024.
The water rate for a single-family residence will raise by $1 a month, from the current $25.78 to $26.78 next year. Monthly rates would rise $3 annually, reaching $38.78 in 2024.
Stormwater rates will see the most significant increases and will no longer be based on a parcel’s expected rate and volume of runoff. For a single-family parcel, the rate will be $8.69 in 2020, increase by $2 in 2021 and 2022, with a rate of $13.19 in 2023 and 2024.
Ward 1 Councilwoman Tawni Andrews said some of her constituents were “pretty upset” about the increases, saying the raise in rates would be most difficult for people on fixed incomes.
The city has deferred rate increases for many years, and the city’s aging sewer and water infrastructure is in need of some larger repairs to keep the system operational and stay in compliance with Department of Ecology regulations, according to Public Works Director Rick Sangder.
“There’s work that needs to be done and things are wearing out,” and federal support for local utilities has declined over the past several years, Ward 3 Councilman Tim Alstrom said.
“The object is to get these projects done,” said Ward 5 Councilman and mayor-elect Pete Schave. The increased rates would be hard for some residents to absorb, but a recent rate study showed even with the increases, the city’s rates are “not outrageous” when compared to other municipalities in the state, Alstrom said.
“At the end of the day we have to maintain these services and this is a step to do that,” said Ward 1 Councilman Jim Cook.
Mayor Erik Larson told the council that while the first year’s rate increase is more or less “set in stone,” the council could address the rates suggested in 2021-2024 in subsequent years.
The rates were developed by a consultant in response to city and Public Works engineering staff’s prioritized list of improvements the city feels must be done in the next several years.
As previously reported in The Daily World, the city’s water capital improvement plan will be funded primarily with rates and reserves for $7.7 million in planned improvements, including just under $2.5 million in 2020.
The sewer capital improvement plan includes $11.4 million in improvements, to be paid by a mix of grants, borrowing and rates.
Between 2020 and 2021, two pump stations would be replaced entirely, and two others would need to address pumps, piping and all mechanical infrastructure.
